How do Google Stop words Impact an Article?

“Stop words” is a term that every person into blogging and SEO must have heard a zillion times. I’m sure this term must have been the cause of their headaches while writing blogs. In case you’re about to make some SEO related changes on your blog and are confused about whether or not Google Stop words impact an article you might want to consider reading this article!

All the new SEO users will always wonder: What are Stop words? Are they harmful? How are they relevant to SEO?? How do Google Stop words impact an article?

I searched for its definition on Google and got this:

“In computer search engines, a stop word is a commonly used word (such as “the”) that a search engine has been programmed to ignore, both when indexing entries for searching and when retrieving them as the result of a search query.”

How does Google Handle Stop words?

25% of the web contains Stop words. This statistic is enough for us to derive that Google or for that any matter any search engine need to have measures taken to tackle Stop words.

Stop words are usually ignored by Google and every other search Engine. Google Stop words impact an article is a very menial manner!

Why?

• The Stop words appear so often on any website that Google chooses to ignore them.
• This is to avoid uncertainty and server load problems caused by Stop words.
• By doing this, it becomes easier for the search engines to deliver results.
• Because these words don’t impact the search results, it makes sense for the search engines to ignore them.

Stop words are considered only when there is a difference in the meaning of the search term with its inclusion.

The search engine cracks the code of the search query by scanning through all the words along with the main keyword.

The Role of Stop words in SEO:

Stop words are considered to be a bane to a well-written article by most of the SEO experts and the ever followed Yoast plugin. The inclusion of Stop words in your article URL, title or focus keyword will not be encouraged by many. It’s said that if you wish to lower your article ranking, only then should you include Stop words in your blog post.

But..but…but.. I’ve come across many articles that have ranked higher in the SERPs in spite of having Stop words in them.Google looks for articles that engage the user in every possible manner. It hardly matters whether Stop words have been used in them or not. The relevance of Stop words is such that eliminating them could often ruin the user experience.

Stop words are often the integral parts of sentences. Without these, the sentence becomes meaningless. Google has understood this and realized that filtering a Stop words could reduce user engagement.

A small knack to know whether or not to include Stop words –

Search for the title of your article with and without Stop words. If Google produces different results, it is proved that Stop words have been considered. You can then decide on keeping your title with Stop words.

List of Stop words 

Conclusion:

It’s often said that anything in excess is dangerous. So is the use of Stop words. Appropriate use of Stop words can only improve user engagement. But using Stop words where they are not required is an avoidable act.

Make sure you make your article, the title and the URL as short as possible and also easy for the user to understand. Don’t try forcefully to eliminate Stop words from blog URL or title.

Remember that Google knows the value that Stop words add to the article. But avoid using Stop words unnecessarily.

Please comment to share your knowledge about Stop words with us.